excellent scope!
excellent scope!
yes, it still impresses me as much as it did, if not more. i tried it side by side with a friends viper 3-12 and to be honest we were both in agreement that the mamba lite had the better sight picture. im not sure if thats because his particular viper is older or what but the mamba was both brighter, and crisper.
i know 2 lads (markyboy and the_caretaker) who both switched to mamba lites from vipers and they say the same.
I've always favoured 25mm tubed scopes to 30mm.
My perception is clearer sight picture from 25mm than 30mm tubes, this includes high end models like Luep's etc too. I don't know why this is or if it's just me, but 30mm always appears more noisy (in the clarity) but I will be sticking with 25mm until a side-by-side comparison with the same spec in 30mm actually proves to have an advantage.
I have never required the additional adjustment which can be achieved by the 30mm tubed models, quite why you would want to move the picture even further from centre, I don't know.
I also agree that the new Mamba is clearer than the equivalent Viper model
MTC, take note, please offer more models in 25mm
Last edited by tmstech; 28-02-2010 at 09:37 AM. Reason: Addition
Purbeck Field Target Club.
with 30mm tube you only gain more elevation for long range shooting ,i don't think that the sight picture is brighter with 30mm tube,more important is the quality of the glass and front objective diameter for better light collecting .
Got the mamba lite at the show and well happy thanks to your review.
brilliant mate, im glad your happy with it.
i have got a mamba 4-16x44 lite
& it is great, i have used the scope & the mct for about 4 hours & the view is nice & clear.
the crosshair is nice too.
For what it's worth....
Just picked up a new 3-12x44 lite from MTC.
Got it the next day and popped it onto the huntsman.
I have yet to get out and test it, but the balance is as it was with the nikon (which was nice) but I now have a brighter, sharper, much closer paralaxing scope with a meaningful ret that means I will now take it hunting and use it to it's full potential.
perfec, no point in saying much else as Mr kwicky has already done a great job, except that I compared the image against my nearly new hawk sidwinder 30 (SR6).
The hawk (which was significantly more expensive, has a 30mm tube, and weighs a ton) has some really iffy fringeing issues.....the little mamba does not....ergo, the hawks will all be going sooner rather than later (apart from the big noisy one living in the garden).
There is an interesting review by Jim in the new mag on the lites. Had I not already been convinced I would have bought one anyway.
Seriously functional value that does what it should, and does it well IMHO
Cheers Gary and Sammy
I love the big viper on my rabitting rifle, so it was an obvious choice.
I'm a maggot in another life you know
I have just ordered one of these myself in 3-12x44 spec. I sold my Falcon Menace, to fund it, having see kwikys hunting experiences with his mamba lite. It will complement my hunting set up perfectly.
ATB Ian